Permian Basin Railways, Inc. (Permian),
a noncarrier and short line railroad
holding company, has filed a verified notice of exemption to acquire control through
purchase of 100% of the outstanding stock of West Texas and Lubbock Railroad
Company, Inc. (WTLRR),
a nonoperating
Class III short line railroad.

The transaction was scheduled to be consummated on or about December 1, 2004.

Permian states that: (i) the railroads do not connect; (ii) the transaction is not part
of a series of anticipated transactions that would connect these railroads with each other
or any railroad in their corporate family; and (iii) the transaction does not involve a Class
I carrier. Therefore, the transaction is exempt from the prior approval requirements of 49
U.S.C. 11323. See 49 CFR 1180.2(d)(2).

Under 49 U.S.C. 10502(g), the Board may not use its exemption authority to
relieve a rail carrier of its statutory obligation to protect the interests of its employees.
Section 11326(c), however, does not provide for labor protection for transactions under
sections 11324 and 11325 that involve only Class III rail carriers. Accordingly, the Board
may not impose labor protective conditions here, because all of the carriers involved are
Class III rail carriers.

If the notice contains false or misleading information, the exemption is void abinitio. Petitions to revoke the exemption under 49 U.S.C. 10502(d) may be filed at any
time. The filing of a petition to revoke will not stay the transaction.

An original and 10 copies of all pleadings, referring to STB Finance Docket No.
34613, must be filed with the Surface Transportation Board, 1925 K Street, N.W.,
Washington, DC 20423-0001. In addition, a copy of each pleading must be served on:
John D. Heffner, 1920 N Street, N.W., Suite 800, Washington, DC 20036.

Board decisions and notices are available on our website at
“WWW.STB.DOT.GOV.”